Building a better Roosevelt Library
Library Board explores a new mixed-use facility

Library Board Trustees, staff, residents, and a neighborhood advisory team have endorsed the development of a new 12,000 square foot library on the corner of East 38th St. and 23rd Ave. S. The new building would attempt to meet the community’s growing expectations for its libraries in an up-to-date, accessible facility. The new library, which would retain the Roosevelt Library name, would contain a larger collection, additional computers, and expanded programming space. 
The current Roosevelt Library, built in 1927, has only 4,043 square feet of space. The size limitations of the current site prompted the move from the library’s home on 28th Ave S. to the new location. 
As part of the public process, the neighborhood advisory team recommended that the Library Board examine the feasibility of making the library project a mixed-use development. Library Board Trustees have supported the idea of exploring the possibility of a mixed-use development. The decision will require input from residents, businesses, and others in the community.
In the interest of continuing the participation process, the Library Board is again seeking feedback from area residents and business people. The Board has scheduled a community meeting on Tuesday, September 17, at 7:00 p.m. at Our Redeemer Lutheran Church, 4000-28th Ave. S., next to the current Roosevelt Library. 
A brief survey asking people to indicate their preference among three options will be available at the current Roosevelt library from September 3 to 17, and at the September 17 meeting. The first option under consideration is simply to build a single-structure library with a parking lot. The second option is the same as the first, but with the provision to add a coffee shop or small café adjacent to, or possibly integrated into, the new library.
The third and most unusual possibility would be to build a new library with parking and housing. Preliminary estimates of the site and budget indicate the potential for three stories of rental housing, for a total of between 50 and 65 one-, two-, or three-bedroom units above the library. There might also potentially be underground parking for the residents. 
Plans for the library, with or without mixed use, are in the preliminary “idea” stage, and the options proposed might change as the planning process progresses.